Ryn

Hello,

Thank you for the advice. Yes, it is a little confusing as to whether the flight is a BA one or an Aer Lingus one. I believe it was Aer Lingus but operated by BA.
The flight definitely operated, as we knew some other people who were on the flight.

Is it better to contact BA about it rather than Aer Lingus?

From my point of view, irrespective of whether EC/261 applies, we were promised compensation for coming off the flight. We did so in good faith, and so we ought to be paid what we are owed.

It seems like we will have an almost impossible task on our hands. As I suppose from their point of view, it is our word vs their word regarding compensation.
My current thoughts are that the airport manager did not note that we voluntarily de-boarded the flight, and so from the airline's point of view, we are in the same group as all the other passengers.

The only supporting evidence we could cite, is that the passengers who were denied boarding involuntarily were hand baggage only. Whilst, we had hold luggage which they had to remove.

It must be said, that the whole thing leaves a very sour taste in one's mouth. And to think that we thought we were helping out the airline/passengers who needed to be back...